Clutch pressure help
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 871
Likes: 3
From: Alpha/Coopersburg NJ/PA
Clutch pressure help
Hey guys,
A couple weeks ago I posted a thread about my thinking I needed a new clutch, but now that I look into it I'm not so sure. I'm thinking that I may need either a new master or slave cylinder. Here's the relevant info:
1. Clutch suddenly dropped to the floor one day, mid shift. Now, the clutch does has extremely short travel on its own, it won't come all the way back up. Sometimes it shifts when it's in this state, sometimes it doesn't.
2. I found the clutch fluid reservoir low and somewhat dirty when I checked it. I did the "Ranger Method" and refilled it. For a while the car shifted like new, and the clutch popped all the way back up, but now it's gone back to its old ways. There might be some drop in fluid, there might not, it's hard to tell. It's not dramatic if so.
3. Sometimes the car won't shift into gear at all. Warming it up helps, also, if the clutch is drawn off the floor with the toe of my left shoe, pumped all the way down, drawn all the way back up, then pumped down a few times, it usually shifts OK.
Is this kind of thing symptomatic of a bad master of slave cylinder? My car has 116,000 miles on it, which is a crapload for one clutch, but at least the two owners before me were in their 70's, so I don't think it had a very hard life. Also, when the pedal is working properly, like after I changed the fluid, the shifts are just like it was when I got it 30,000 miles ago, really smooth and easy.
How do I diagnose this?
A couple weeks ago I posted a thread about my thinking I needed a new clutch, but now that I look into it I'm not so sure. I'm thinking that I may need either a new master or slave cylinder. Here's the relevant info:
1. Clutch suddenly dropped to the floor one day, mid shift. Now, the clutch does has extremely short travel on its own, it won't come all the way back up. Sometimes it shifts when it's in this state, sometimes it doesn't.
2. I found the clutch fluid reservoir low and somewhat dirty when I checked it. I did the "Ranger Method" and refilled it. For a while the car shifted like new, and the clutch popped all the way back up, but now it's gone back to its old ways. There might be some drop in fluid, there might not, it's hard to tell. It's not dramatic if so.
3. Sometimes the car won't shift into gear at all. Warming it up helps, also, if the clutch is drawn off the floor with the toe of my left shoe, pumped all the way down, drawn all the way back up, then pumped down a few times, it usually shifts OK.
Is this kind of thing symptomatic of a bad master of slave cylinder? My car has 116,000 miles on it, which is a crapload for one clutch, but at least the two owners before me were in their 70's, so I don't think it had a very hard life. Also, when the pedal is working properly, like after I changed the fluid, the shifts are just like it was when I got it 30,000 miles ago, really smooth and easy.
How do I diagnose this?
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
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From: Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
With that many miles, and with your symptoms, I'd definitely recommend replacing the slave, MC, clutch assembly (includes new flywheel) and pilot bearing.
If you're not interested in performance "upgrades" and prefer stock, or stock-like, components, I would recommend the C5 Z06 clutch assembly (which includes the flywheel) or the LS7 assembly. Both are direct bolt-in and maintain the factory pedal feel as well as being very moderately priced. If it were me, I would also replace the two drive shaft couplers ("guibos") since the drive-line has to come out for the clutch job anyway.
HTH
If you're not interested in performance "upgrades" and prefer stock, or stock-like, components, I would recommend the C5 Z06 clutch assembly (which includes the flywheel) or the LS7 assembly. Both are direct bolt-in and maintain the factory pedal feel as well as being very moderately priced. If it were me, I would also replace the two drive shaft couplers ("guibos") since the drive-line has to come out for the clutch job anyway.
HTH
